21.11 - Day 311 - Siem Reap incl Angkor Wat, KHM
Thursday 21st November - Siem Reap incl. Angkor Wat (Day 311)
It’s early dry season in Siem Reap and in this bustling town everyone is here for one thing: Angkor Wat. We’re no different and so we’ve arranged a day tour to the temple complex with Kim, the driver and all round helper for the owners Kathryn and Kahn.
I pop out early to find some breakfast and snacks before we board Kim’s remorque - a four seat roofed carriage affixed to a motorbike; they’re as common as tuk tuks here.
It’s only 8am when we reach Angkor Wat (the whole area is referred to as Angkor Wat even though it’s only one of the 70 odd temples - all in varying levels of decay / restoration) but we're already walking on the shady side of the road.
The temple appears low slung from the outer perimeter of the former city, in part because it’s so far away - it is much more vast than we expected. Up and through stone corridors, past giant water tanks to the main central towers.
It’s not just that there are some ornate stone carvings from the 12th century, but that every wall, nook and cranny is carved.
Plus they loved really steep steps, so steep Sienna and Seb are not allowed in the main tower, so I scale up and gingerly down having marvelled at even more stone carvings.
We walk along a mammoth 48 metre wall covered in carvings; a story picture 2 metres high. Then around the corner is a 96 metre long wall with another story. It’s just huge.
Walking in the heat does not impress Sienna and Seb much so we limp back to Kim who’s been waiting at the entrance ($18 for the day, tickets $62 for a 3 day pass, Sienna and Seb free). However the monkeys we spot as we exit does impress them.
The day follows a pattern of being dropped in one spot and then being shuttled around by Kim when we’re done. We enter into the old city - formerly over 1,000,000 inhabitants in the 13th century - dropped next at Bayon (another of the Big 3 after Angkor and Ta Prohm).
There’s probably as many tourists here as Angkor Wat, but in a much more condensed space, so as we weave in and out of the labyrinth of rooms and corridors we’re often waiting for others to get out of the way.
This temple has dozens of carved smiling faces, and despite the crowds is perhaps more approachable than Angkor Wat, and, if you’re patient a minute or two you can get an eddy in the crowds for an empty photo.
We walk through to Baphuon with a long raised stone platform approach. Sienna and Seb are happy enough they’re not allowed in because of the steep stairs so they perch in the shade while Kate and I clamber to the top.
Just amazing to consider how they lifted all the stone slabs into position in this giant 3D jigsaw. Lots of intricate square window frames present plenty of photo ops before we slowly descend.
Movement is delayed when monkeys are spotted which are potentially more fascinating to Sienna than the temples. At least the walk to Kim is past animal based carvings - The Terrace of Elephants.
A short ride brings us to a smoothie stop then on through a forest to Takeo temple which appears out of nowhere between the trees. Sienna and Seb are at least content with smoothies while Kate and I climb up yet more steep stairs still wondering just how you build this and what foresight you need.
Two to go - Banteay Kolei is in more of a ruined state, but has an enormous tree growing from the front wall. We all amble through, noting the bats hanging and squeaking in one of the turrets.
Last up after another remorque ride is Ta Prohm ‘the Lara Croft one’, and last of the Big 3. The crowds are back in force, though again, time it between tour groups and it’s possible to be alone for a moment; visitor numbers for October were still only half pre-Covid levels which seems at odds with the tourism surge elsewhere in the world, but there’s plenty of crowds for our liking.
After finding the first example of a huge tree with roots sprawling over a crumbling wall the kids are done so sit and wait whilst Kate and I walk around.
Like the other temples they’re all deceptively big; they just keep going as you scramble through them (and we wonder how long that will be allowed for). All these giant trees and roots does make for a very atmospheric setting.
Kim collects us and brings us back to Passport Villa and it’s only 14:30 pm but we’re suitably tired, so the afternoon is spent relaxing in the pool and Sienna and Seb are rewarded with some sushi for dinner.
Great to have seen Angkor Wat (as the complex) and we only did the ‘Small Tour’. And how do we break the idea of sunrise and or sunset visits back there?